This invention relates generally to fishing lures which attract fish by means of sight, sound or motion. More particularly, the lure of the present invention produces sine wave sounds at discrete frequencies that are emitted in a predetermined sequence. In addition, the present lure emits a steady or flashing white or colored light produced by one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs).
Research has shown that selected motion, sound, light, or combination thereof, attract different species of fish. Published studies document the ability of a fish to sense vibrations in the water through lateral lines located on both sides of its body. In addition, it is known that some predator fish recognize and approach sources of steady or flashing light.
Fish upon which predator fish prey, such as minnows and the like, tend to shimmer due to the distortion of sunlight in and on water, as do insects which have fallen into the water, thereby causing flashes of reflected sunlight which serve to further entice predator fish to approach and strike. The published studies have been used to explain how entire schools of fish are able to make numerous sharp turns in precise synchronism without colliding. This is accomplished by their ability to sense vibrations and react as a group. The ability of predator fish to single out and prey upon sick or wounded fish in a school is largely the result of the predator's ability to sense, by way of its lateral body lines, erratic movement or noises created by disturbances in the water.
Fish lures that generate noise are known in the prior art. Examplary of this prior are is U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,475 to Pankove, which is directed to a fishing lure in which an oscillator is employed to impart electromechanical vibrations to a diaphragm and emit these vibrations into the water, resulting in a buzzing sound within a frequency of 600-1000 Hz.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,784,399 to Smith is directed to a sound producing fishing lure in which a vibrating armature contacts a sounding diaphragm which is in direct contact with the water, thereby producing a buzzing sound of unknown frequency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,313 to Dugan, Jr. is directed to a fishing lure which emits electronically produced square wave tones that tend to be raspy and irritating in tonal quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,339 to Fuentes et al. is directed to a sonic fishing lure employing a pair of astable multivibrators running a 1 Hz and 100 Hz to produce intermittent pulses of square wave sound at approximately 100 Hz for short durations of approximately 700 milliseconds that alternate with silent periods of approximately 200 milliseconds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,437 to Watson et al. is directed to a fishing lure that employs a coil with a movable plunger inside a water resistant cylinder. As the plunger moves back and forth in the cylinder, it strikes the walls of the cylinder, thereby producing a fish-luring noise.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,278 to Szilagyi et al. is directed to a fish caller that produces randomly modulated noise signals comprising a digital pulse train emitted through an amplified underwater speaker. It is designed to attract fish to a fishing area in which the speaker is located.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,857 to Livingston is directed to a lure that includes electronic devices utilizing a single LED or a pair of LEDs connected to circuitry which causes the LEDs to blink so as to attract fish. The apparatus includes a bobber for use in connection with the lure and through which fishing line is strung. The bobber acts as an alarm which is set off by way of a water activated switch wherein a noise device and LED are activated when a fish strike pulls the bobber into the water, thereby alerting the fisherman of a strike.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,891 to Holt is directed to a game fish attracting device wherein digital recording or signatures of underwater predator-attracting sounds, such as those produced by various species of the fish bait, are played back under water in order to attract fish.
The sound producing lures of the prior art are disadvantageous in that they typically employ mechanical or electronic means to generate square wave sounds. Square waves, which reach their peak amplitude instantaneously, exhibit a characteristic clicking, buzzing or static-like sound. Since it has been shown that fish make sounds which are more closely related in tonal quality to that of a musical instrument, it would advantageous to duplicate that tonal quality in a lure.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure that emits continuous sine wave generated sounds to emulate the sounds produced by fish themselves.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure that also emits a steady or flashing light as an additional attraction to fish in the vicinity of the lure.
This and other incidental objects are accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention by providing a waterproof casing within which is contained electronic circuitry that includes a precision oscillator integrated circuit for generating a continuous sine wave sound that is swept about a predetermined center frequency of approximately 3.0 kHz and that extends between a low frequency of approximately 1.8 kHz and a high frequency of approximately 4.2 kHz. The output of the precision oscillator integrated circuit is coupled to a miniature piezoelectric speaker for audibly reproducing the generate sine wave sound. An LED flasher integrated circuit is coupled to the precision oscillator integrated circuit and serves to control an LED such that the LED flashes at a predetermined rate or is constantly lit to thereby serve as an additional fish attractor in combination with the continuous sine wave sound.